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Sunday, December 25, 2011

Mini Review: Envy by Gregg Olsen

Both wondered how it was that with the inevitability of death, no one really had anything to say about it. It was as if one of life's pivotal moments---- the final moment--- was devoid of potential small talk. pg. 51
The writer is inriguing but something about his dialouge and text speak turns me off. I can't tell if he is too out of touch with popular 15 year olds, or if I am. And I abhor text speak. I mean it took me 30 minutes to figure out what 4COL and when I did it was my exact sentiment*. And they're using it while talking about a dead friend - to me that feels cold and inappropiate and a lot of other words that make me feel old and motherly to say.

The twins who end up being the center of the story are supposed to have distinct personalities and gifts but those lines blur until the two are indistinguisable as the story goes on. Also the beloved family dog goes missing and the twins kind of brush over it. They mourn for a couple minutes then it's back to the mystery. That's just weird, what was the point of that plot twist?

The reveals are fairly obvious, I saw 70 percent of them coming far too early.
The author is repeatitive like a highschool teacher trying to portray an important subject. As the story goes on the author starts offering information without using the characters. In my opinion the last thing a thriller/mystery writer should do is leading, which is what the final quarter is full of.